Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

There will not be. I want to know if the Government will lay the document before the House for discussion and when it will provide time for the debate.

I also want to know whether the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance have made a prior agreement in Brussels, before coming to this House, to yield to proposals from the Commission about the future direction and management of Irish budgets. That is the sovereign issue in this Parliament. Does this Parliament decide our budget or is the budget agreed privately in Brussels beforehand?

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